B&W FLASHBACK: Why I Hate Winter (1978)

I can't recall how cold it was in January of 1978, but I do remember the Village Voice, then New York's weekly voice of the counterculture, sponsoring "Why I Hate Winter," a photography contest.  Why not illustrate how bundling up to keep warm made it difficult to use the toilet?  Paul, always game for a lark, agreed to model in my tiny studio apartment on West 70th Street.

His pornstache  grimace may have conveyed more constipation than urgency . . .

My bathroom, directly behind the galley kitchen, was barely larger than a closet.

The Clash was legitimizing punk, Eastern Airlines still flew to warmer climes and Charlie Chaplin had just died.  I thought shameless product placement would lead to a prize.  It didn't.

Today, Paul has no recollection of our failed collaboration, perhaps because modeling was so much less labor intensive than taking pictures nearly half a century ago.  First, the black and white film--newspapers didn't print color then--had to be purchased, inserted and wound into my Yashica camera before choosing the right shooting speed & exposure. Second, the film had to be developed,  the contact sheet reviewed and the best photos chosen for enlargement.  Finally, the envelope had to be stuffed with a cover letter, addressed, stamped and mailed.  And it took weeks for the Voice to announce the results.

My "Why I Hate Winter" concept would have worked so much better on TikTok.